DC and School won't allow peanut products?!

welly01 · September 2012

Has anyone heard that schools and daycares are becoming "nut free"? I read an article about a PB&J sandwich getting confiscated at a school and on the working moms board there was a mention of a peanut butter cookie that was confiscated.

I know its important for kids with allergies not to be exposed to nuts, but does that really require that I can't send a PB&J for lunch for my own non-allergy kid? Seriously, a PB&J is so quick and easy. I expect that it will be a stable in my kids school lunches over the years.

What does everyone else think?

JulieN0704 · September 2012

Many schools no longer allow peanuts. I thought it was ridiculous for awhile, until one of my students smelled peanut butter through a lunchbox. She's highly allergic and needs an epi pen when she's around it. So no, I don't think it's overreacting. You just never know how severe a person's allergies are.

kissmii · September 2012

WHAAAAT?? UNACCEPTABLE! i love pb&j! ha! but seriously, i can't see why they would do that just because some kids are allergic to it. or am i missing something? was that the only reason why they're implementing this rule?

WVUPetunia · September 2012

MandJS:
Safety of kids is a priority, so yes, I've heard of it and support it. Sunbutter is just as easy, actually healthier than peanut butter, and tastes essentially the same. It's not hard to sub that in for lunch.

This is what I was going to suggest. It's made from sunflower seeds. It's not as good as peanut butter, but it's not bad either. I always wondered though how the kid with that in his/her lunch could prove that it wasn't peanut butter, though?... (Unless teachers are sniffing sandwiches?)

I'd rather be safe than sorry, and if it were my kid with the peanut allergy, I'm sure I would want others to do the same.

I do wonder why peanut allergies are so much more prevalent now than they were when I was in school, though. I knew ONE kid with a peanut allergy.

rrcraz7 · September 2012

My DCP is peanut free. They also provide breakfast & lunch so it hasn't been a concern. I support the decision. Nut allergies can be extremly severe & I'd rather be peanut free than put another childs life in danger.

kissmii · September 2012

JulieN0704:
Many schools no longer allow peanuts. I thought it was ridiculous for awhile, until one of my students smelled peanut butter through a lunchbox. She's highly allergic and needs an epi pen when she's around it. So no, I don't think it's overreacting. You just never know how severe a person's allergies are.

woah. never thought there were cases that bad.

welly01 · September 2012

MandJS:
Sunbutter is just as easy, actually healthier than peanut butter, and tastes essentially the same. It's not hard to sub that in for lunch.

Good to know there is a substitution that might work.

WVUPetunia · September 2012

welly01:
MandJS:
Sunbutter is just as easy, actually healthier than peanut butter, and tastes essentially the same. It's not hard to sub that in for lunch.
Good to know there is a substitution that might work.

There's also soy butter. Again, not as good as peanut butter, but safer. I've seen both at Walmart, too, so it's not like you'll have to go to a special store to get them, which is nice.

techg0ddess · September 2012

I think it's reasonable. What they did in the past was whatever class had the kid in it, they banned it from just that classroom. But lets say one kid had a peanut butter sandwich and didn't clean off their hands and went out to play with someone that was allergic to peanut butter or lets say they touched the slide and got it on the slide and the allergic kid went to slide after them. You've now got a kid having an allergy attack and they might not know why. If there's a peanut allergy kid in the school, it's perfectly acceptable to ban all those products until they can really learn how to deal with it on their own (like highschool).

The nut allergies are scary stuff and some of them just get activated it seems by the air itself.

DelBride2012 · September 2012

I can see how it sounds crazy, but since it's so easy to trigger a reaction, and so bad when it happens, I don't mind abiding by the rules. Almond butter is also a decent alternative.

WVUPetunia · September 2012

MandJS:
WVUPetunia:
welly01:
MandJS:
Sunbutter is just as easy, actually healthier than peanut butter, and tastes essentially the same. It's not hard to sub that in for lunch.
Good to know there is a substitution that might work.
There's also soy butter. Again, not as good as peanut butter, but safer. I've seen both at Walmart, too, so it's not like you'll have to go to a special store to get them, which is nice.
True, but if you can get it, Trader Joe's Sunbutter is the best, by far.

It is. I miss the Trader Joe's that I moved away from. Crying

benoitfan · September 2012

That has been the norm in our area for about 10 years. Some kids do not need direct exposure to have a deathly allergic reaction. I have a friend who if he touches the outside of a bag that held a peanut product would break out in a serious rash and have breathing difficulties. Kids often don't think about ingredients in something, so they offer to share their homemade cookie or brownie, not realizing it has peanuts in it and the kid they give it to doesn't ask and bang, ER visit and deathly consequences are possible. This why you will notice that alot of products now have labels that say "nut-free" or "made in a nut free facility". Save your PB&J for at home and send bologna!

cmr5776 · September 2012

My DS is almost 4 and attends a private Montessori school which is "Peanut Aware". No nuts allowed, which makes it difficult b/c he does not like meat so we have to be creative with his lunches. It doesn't bother me at all.

CandaceLeigh · September 2012

I am that kid with severe allergies. I still carry an epi pen in my purse and keep one in the car too because you never know. I 1000% support the removal of peanut/peanut products from schools, if it keeps kids safe.

sadsadie · September 2012

Due to the extremely sensetive nature of peanut allergies, I would not send it to school; some kids can die from trace amounts of nuts (say, touching a door knob that another kid with PB on their hands touched, and then wiping their hand across their face...easy to have happen). It isn't worth putting other kid's lives in peril.

Your kids can have all the PB&J they want...at home.

HAFranklin · September 2012

DS's preschool was free of ALL nuts and fish. His particular classroom also had strawberry and egg allergies. They provided breakfast and lunch to all the kids, and parents weren't allowed to bring in any food product whatsoever. Not even for birthdays or Halloween. Even if it was packaged as not containing nuts or made in a nut free facility.

Even with ALL those precautions, a child had a severe allergic reaction because their locker partner had PB toast for breakfast before school and didn't wash their hands properly.

So, yes, I fully support the nut free rule. Nut allergies can be deadly, and it's not worth the risk, IMO.

DS is in Kindergarten now, and they are only nut free in certain classrooms where there is an allergy present. They eat lunch in their individual classrooms, so there is no chance of cross contamination.

GHBEA · September 2012

As some one with food allergies and two DDs with food allergies I support this. Even though mine are not allergic to any nuts. We have cows milk, and tuna allergies in our house hold. One of my DDs carries an epi pen. For my youngest she is highly sensitive to cows milk. I bring her snacks to our moms group and tell the care givers she can only have her snack.

Better safe then sorry. Young kids don't always remember not to eat other peoples food and I do not want that guilt on me if something happened.

shutupanddance07 · September 2012

I've never worked in a nut free school, but most schools I have worked in have a special table for peanut allergies. If there are several kids with an allergy, they all sit at that table together. But I had one school where there was only one child with an allergy, and so as not to exclude that child, they had a peanut table. If you had a peanut product in your lunch, you had to sit at that table. I don't think it's necessary to ban it in a school if there isn't a child with a high level of sensitivity enrolled in that school, but I do think it's smart to be on the safe side. Realistically, we can't get rid of everything people are allergic to, but at the same time, if my kid was that kind of sensitive, I'd want to make sure he was safe.

I think it should be on a case by case basis, especially since over-sterilization of environments leads to more allergies. We don't want kids who wouldn't otherwise have an allergy to develop one. I know a lot of this allergy stuff is still unproven, but that's the idea behind an allergy shot. Slow, low exposure seems to cause a decrease in sensitivity. We're trying to figure out how to expose our child to things we don't keep in our home because of our own allergies. H's allergist thinks that if we expose him when he's really little that he's less likely to develop an allergy to them.

BarooGirl · September 2012

MandJS:
WVUPetunia:
welly01:
MandJS:

Sunbutter is just as easy, actually healthier than peanut butter, and tastes essentially the same. It's not hard to sub that in for lunch.

Good to know there is a substitution that might work.

There's also soy butter. Again, not as good as peanut butter, but safer. I've seen both at Walmart, too, so it's not like you'll have to go to a special store to get them, which is nice.

True, but if you can get it, Trader Joe's Sunbutter is the best, by far.

TJs is the best and I actually like it better than PB.

I was also suprised that the price (at TJs) was so much better than my local grocery store.

I also thought the PB ban was kind of stupid and overkill until I heard stories like yours and Julies.

It does make me wonder why we have so many more nut allergies than we used to have. I dont remember anyone I grew up with having them.

benoitfan · September 2012

I had a peanut allergy as a kid...it wasn't anaphalatic, but it would cause my eyes to swell shut. Yes, I was that weird kid that took egg salad and tuna or deli meat sandwiches to school for lunch everyday.

I was lucky, I outgrew many of my allergies, including peanuts and tomatoes. Also, some people can eat a food for years and suddenly develop a severe allergy to it. My dad ate scallops for 40 some years and one night had them and had an anaphalatic reaction, where his lips, tongue and throat started swelling. That was 15yrs ago and he hasn't had a scallop since, but can still eat all other shellfish.

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DC and School won't allow peanut products?!

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